Inductors perform a wide variety of essential functions in many electronic devices. For example, inductors are used in power supplies as choke coils, for energy storage and to minimize noise and AC ripple. Inductors are also used in transformers to change voltage level and to provide isolation.
Inductors often comprise a magnetic core composed of an iron or ferrite material that is wound with a conductive coil. Consequently, inductors are often referred to as wire-wound coil devices.
One major difficulty with wire-wound coil devices is that they have relatively high-profiles which restrict miniaturization. While resistors, diodes, capacitors, and transistors have shrunk to the microscopic level, wire-wound coil devices remain bulky.
The size of conventional inductors is a particular problem in power circuits such as AC-DC and DC-DC power converters. Power converters remain bulky due, in large part, to the high profiles, large footprints, and high thermal resistances of the inductors and transformers. Furthermore, conventional inductors have a limited ability to transfer heat from the core and conductive windings to the device case or heat sink which necessitates larger surface areas for the entire circuit.
Accordingly, there is need for an improved low profile inductor which enables the miniaturization of power converters and other electronic devices.